scholarly journals Distribution and diversity of entomopathogenic nematodes (Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) in a South African nature reserve

Koedoe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isiah Nthenga ◽  
Rinus Knoetze ◽  
Antoinette P. Malan

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are microscopic roundworms that are found in soil worldwide. They deliver an important ecosystem service through preventing natural flares in insect reproduction by means of utilising the soil stages of insects as a food source and by acting as natural biocontrol agents. A survey of EPNs was conducted in the JS Marais Nature Reserve, Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Soil samples were baited with the larvae of three susceptible hosts, codling moth (Cydia pomonella), wax moth (Galleria mellonella) and mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) to determine the presence of EPN. Of the 76 soil samples collected across the reserve, 39 were found to be positive for the presence of EPN (51.32%). Among the positive samples, 87% contained Steinernema isolates, 8% contained Heterorhabditis and 5% contained the Oscheius sp. Morphological and molecular studies were performed to characterise the isolates to species level. The Steinernema species were identified as Steinernema khoisanae in 34 samples, and as Steinernema nguyeni in five samples. The only species of Heterorhabditis found was H. safricana, which was identified from three samples. An unknown Oscheius sp. was found in two samples. The reserve’s population of S. khoisanae showed interesting inter-individual variation (93%) early in the internal transcribe spacer (ITS) region, leading to short single-usable sequences, which, in most cases, included only the ITS1 or ITS2 region. However, using the D2D3 confirmed their identity as S. khoisanae, with such occurring in all areas and soil types of the reserve.Conservation implications: The undisturbed alluvial fynbos and renosterveld of the JS Marais Nature Reserve showed high EPN abundance and diversity in stark contrast to the agro-ecosystems present in the Cape floristic region. This finding, on a micro level, should be conserved for future bioprospecting in the fynbos for EPNs with potential as biocontrol agents.

Bothalia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mergili ◽  
S. Privett

The private Grootbos Nature Reserve is located at the Western edge of the Agulhas Plain in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, an area characterized by high habitat and floristic diversity. The Reserve is covered in near-natural fynbos shrublands with a few patches of forest and wetland. The main objective of this study was to classify the vegetation into discrete units and relate them to the prevailing environmental conditions. The vegetation was analysed by numerical means (TWINSPAN, DC A, CCA) and mapped on GIS. At the vegetation type level. Forest Thicket and Fynbos formed distinctive clusters, whereas the wetland releves were intermixed, but without relationships to one of these units. Fire incidence served as the major determinant of the forest-fynbos boundary. The Forest Thicket grouping was separated into Thicket (as transitional to fynbos), Afromontane Forest and Milkwood Scrub Forest. Two broad complexes were distinguished within the Fynbos grouping, the Alkaline Sand Fynbos Complex corresponding to Coastal Fynbos. and the Acid Sand Fynbos Complex corresponding to Mountain Fynbos. They discriminated along gradients of pH. soil depth and rock cover. The complexes were further subdivided into formations by using one or a few subjectively chosen dominant species as indicators. The transitions between these formations were rather continuous than discrete. The vegetation type and complex levels correspond well to existing fynbos-wide classifications. Comparing the formations to the results of other vegetation studies is problematic even on the scale of the Agulhas Plain, due to the high regional plant diversity in the Fynbos Biome.


Nematology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naser Eivazian Kary ◽  
Gholamreza Niknam ◽  
Seyed Abolgasem Mohammadi ◽  
Christine Griffin ◽  
Mohammad Moghaddam

AbstractDuring 2002-2004, a survey of entomopathogenic nematodes was conducted for the first time in Iran throughout the three provinces in the north-west of the country. Soil samples were tested for the presence of steinernematid and heterorhabditid nematodes by baiting with Galleria mellonella larvae. Of the 833 soil samples studied 27 were positive for entomopathogenic nematodes (3.2%), with 17 (2.0%) containing Heterorhabditis and ten (1.2%) Steinernema isolates. Morphological and molecular studies were carried out to characterise isolates. The Heterorhabditis isolates were identified as Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema as Steinernema carpocapsae, S. bicornutum and S. feltiae. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora was the most common species, which was isolated from 17 sites across the three provinces. Steinernema feltiae was the most common species of Steinernema, which was isolated from eight sites but in only two provinces. Steinernema carpocapsae and S. bicornutum were each isolated from only one site. Steinernema spp. were isolated mainly from orchards and grasslands but Heterorhabditis was isolated mainly from grasslands and alfalfa fields.


Nematology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Nikdel ◽  
Gholamreza Niknam ◽  
Christine T. Griffin ◽  
Naser Eivazian Kary

Abstract A survey for entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) was carried out in the Arasbaran forests and rangelands, East Azarbaijan province, north-west Iran, during 2006 to 2008. A total of 691 soil samples were collected from 62 localities across the region of which 21 samples (3%) were positive for EPN, including nine samples (1.3%) with heterorhabditids and 12 (1.7%) with steinernematids. Seven isolates (four Steinernema and three Heterorhabditis) were recovered from rangelands and 14 (eight Steinernema and six Heterorhabditis) from forest soil samples. Based on morphology and molecular studies, the Heterorhabditis isolates were identified as H. bacteriophora and the Steinernema isolates as S. carpocapsae, S. bicornutum, S. feltiae, S. glaseri, S. kraussei and three undescribed species referred to here as Steinernema sp. IRAZ7, Steinernema sp. IRAZ13 and Steinernema sp. IRAZ21. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, the most common species, was present in nine soil samples collected across the forests and rangelands, and of the Steinernema species, S. bicornutum was obtained from three samples, the other species being found from only one or two samples.


Nematology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 851-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Edmunds ◽  
Rory J. Post ◽  
Craig S. Wilding ◽  
Robbie Rae

Summary Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) of the families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae are lethal insect parasites that have been commercialised as biological control agents. EPN have been isolated from across the world but it has been more than 20 years since the last survey of the UK, and species like Steinernema carpocapsae have never been found here and positively identified through molecular biology. We collected 518 soil samples from a diverse range of habitats across the UK and baited them with Galleria mellonella to isolate EPN. Dead G. mellonella were placed in White traps and emergent EPN underwent DNA barcoding analyses. From the 518 samples, 3.5% were positive for EPN. No Heterorhabditis species were found, but seven isolates of S. glaseri, one isolate of S. feltiae, eight isolates of S. affine and two isolates of S. carpocapsae were found. This was the first confirmed record of S. carpocapsae in the UK.


Bothalia ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
M. M. Zietsman ◽  
G. J. Bredenkamp

The vegetation of inland plains and hills of the Andrew’s Field and Tsaba-Tsaba Nature Reserve, Bredasdorp District, Western Cape was classified using TWINSPAN and Braun-Blanquet procedures. The resulting four plant communities and nine subcommunities were described and interpreted ecologically. The vegetation was sampled using 97 randomly stratified plots. The floristic composition, Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance of each species, and various environmental variables were recorded in each sample plot. The relationship between the vegetation units and the associated environmental gradients was confirmed by ordination, using the DECORANA computer program, applied to the floristic data set. The conservation priority of each vegetation unit was determined by taking the occurrence of Red Data List species, limestone endemic species and Cape Floristic Region endemic species into consideration. TTie distribution of the plant communities can mainly be ascribed to differences in the clay/sand content of the soil and the degree of exposure of the vegetation to the dominating winds (southeastern and northwestern) of the area.


Nematology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Aunchalee Thanwisai ◽  
Paramaporn Muangpat ◽  
Abdulhakam Dumidae ◽  
Chanakan Subkrasae ◽  
Jiranun Ardpairin ◽  
...  

Summary Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) Steinernema and Heterorhabditis with symbionts with Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus bacteria, respectively, are reported as biocontrol agents for insect control. The objectives of this study were to identify EPN and their symbiotic bacteria in national parks of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand, and to test how Xenorhabdus isolates attack Aedes aegypti larvae. We collected 810 soil samples from four national parks. The juvenile stage of EPN was isolated from soil samples using a baiting technique with Galleria mellonella followed by a White trap. Partial regions of 28S rDNA and internal transcript spacer were sequenced to identify EPN, and recA sequencing was used to discriminate between Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus. We found that 74 of the 810 soil samples (9.1%) were positive for the EPN. The EPN were molecularly identified as S. surkhetense, S. longicaudum, H. indica and Heterorhabditis sp. SGmg3, and their symbiotic bacteria were identified as X. stockiae, X. griffiniae, X. indica, X. vietnamensis, P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii, and P. temperata subsp. temperata. Xenorhabdus griffiniae showed potential larvicidal activity against A. aegypti (91% mortality at 72 and 96 h after exposure). This study demonstrates the diversity of EPN and symbiotic bacteria in national parks of Thailand and the potential to use X. griffiniae as a biocontrol agent to kill A. aegypti larvae.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Tabassum Ara Khanum, Salma Javed, Nasir Mehmood

Many rhabditid nematodes like Metarhabditis belonging to the bacteriophage group are considered to be necromenic associates of insects and used to be facultative entomopathogenic nematodes or as biocontrol agents. These nematodes can be safely used against insect pests of different crops and vegetables. In the present study, nematode specimens of new and known species were collected from different areas of Sindh and isolated from soil samples by baiting technique using last instar Galleria mellonella. One new nematode species Metarhabditis longicaudata n. sp. and three new records of M. adenobia, M. amasactae, and M. rainai (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) were found from Sindh. M. longicaudata n. sp. differed from the species of the genus Metarhabditis by having long un-covered tail spike. It was also characterized by a large sized male 1286 (1154-1325) µm; longer male tail 69.5 (62-76) µm; longer spicule 43 (40-46) µm; leptoderan bursa; longer gubernaculum 27 (20-34) µm. The female was also of large size of 1507 (1366-1684) µm with larger tail 102 (94-112) µm and longer pharynx 231 (206-265) µm. The genus Metarhabditis is reported for the first time from Sindh, Pakistan. 


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Monier M. Abd El-Ghani ◽  
Ashraf S. A. El-Sayed ◽  
Ahmed Moubarak ◽  
Rabab Rashad ◽  
Hala Nosier ◽  
...  

Astragalus L. is one of the largest angiosperm complex genera that belongs to the family Fabaceae, subfamily Papilionoideae or Faboideae under the subtribe Astragalinae of the tribe Galegeae. The current study includes the whole plant morphology, DNA barcode (ITS2), and molecular marker (SCoT). Ten taxa representing four species of Astragalus were collected from different localities in Egypt during the period from February 2018 to May 2019. Morphologically, identification and classification of collected Astragalus plants occurred by utilizing the light microscope, regarding the taxonomic revisions of the reference collected Astragalus specimens in other Egyptian Herbaria. For molecular validation, ten SCoT primers were used in this study, producing a unique banding pattern to differentiate between ten samples of Astragalus taxa which generated 212 DNA fragments with an average of 12.2 bands per 10 Astragalus samples, with 8 to 37 fragments per primer. The 212 fragments amplified were distributed as 2 monomorphic bands, 27 polymorphic without unique bands, 183 unique bands (210 Polymorphic with unique bands), and ITS2 gene sequence was showed as the optimal barcode for identifying Astragalus L. using BLAST searched on NCBI database, and afterward, analyzing the chromatogram for ITS region, 10 samples have been identified as two samples representing A. hauarensis, four samples representing A. sieberi, three samples representing A. spinosus and one sample representing A. vogelii. Based on the ITS barcode, A. hauarensis RMG1, A. hauarensis RMG2, A. sieberi RMG1, A. sieberi RMG2, A. sieberi RMG3, A. sieberi RMG4, A. spinosus RMG1, A. spinosus RMG2, A. spinosus RMG3, A. vogelii RMG were deposited into GenBank with accession # MT367587.1, MT367591.1, MT367593.1, MT367585.1, MT367586.1, MT367588.1, MT160347.1, MT367590.1, MT367589.1, MT367592.1, respectively. These results indicated the efficiency of SCoT markers and ITS2 region in identifying and determining genetic relationships between Astragalus species.


2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Foelkel ◽  
M. Voss ◽  
L. B. Monteiro ◽  
G. Nishimura

Abstract Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are a promising alternative to integrated control in many fruit pests. Few studies were made on the relationship of Anastrepha fraterculus natural population with native EPNs population and other biotic and abiotic factors. The aim of this work was to verify the occurrence of endemic nematodes in an apple orchard, concerning environmental conditions and technical procedure, and access isolates virulence to A. fraterculus larvae. The experiment was conducted during a year taking monthly soil samples from an apple orchard, with and without fallen fruits just above the soil. Samples were baited with Tenebrium molitor and A. fraterculus larvae in laboratory. Canopy and fallen fruits were sampled to access the pest infestation. Seventy three EPN isolates were captured, in 23.2% soil samples, more with T. molitor than with A. fraterculus baits. From the 20 isolates tested against A. fraterculus, only five were pathogenic, and they were identified as Oscheius sp. The nematodes were captured during all seasons in a similar frequency. Soil and weather conditions, presence of fruit over the orchard soil, and A. fraterculus pupae in the fruits had no significant influence on the capture. As a conclusion, nematodes of the genera Oscheius are found in an apple orchard of Porto Amazonas constantly along the year, independently of fluctuations in A. fraterculus population, climate conditions and presence of fruit over the soil. Some of the isolates are pathogenic to A. fraterculus.


Nematology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 735-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parwinder S. Grewal ◽  
Edwin E. Lewis ◽  
Sudha Venkatachari

Abstract A possible mechanism of suppression of a plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita by entomopathogenic nematodes is described. Heat-killed entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema feltiae and S. riobrave temporarily suppressed penetration of the root-knot nematode M. incognita into tomato roots, but live nematodes had no effect. Infective juvenile M. incognita were repelled from all entomopathogenic nematode treatments that included their symbiotic bacteria. They were repelled by Galleria mellonella cadavers infected with S. carpocapsae, S. feltiae, and S. riobrave and from cell-free culture filtrates of the symbiotic bacteria Xenorhabdus nematophilus, X. bovienii, and Xenorhabdus sp. "R" from the three nematode species, respectively. Cell-free filtrates from all three Xenorhabdus spp. were toxic to M. incognita infective juveniles causing 98-100% mortality at 15% concentration. Cell-free filtrate of Xenorhabdus sp. "R" also reduced the hatch of M. incognita eggs. Application of formulated bacterial cell-free filtrates temporarily suppressed M. incognita penetration into tomato roots in a greenhouse trial. The short-term effects of cell-free bacterial filtrates, namely toxicity and repellency, were almost entirely due to ammonium. These results demonstrate allelopathic interactions between plant-parasitic nematodes, entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria. The likely role of allelopathy in the suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes by innundative applications of entomopathogenic nematodes is discussed. Allelopathie: Ein moglicher Mechanismus zur Unterdruckung pflanzenparasitarer Nematoden durch insektenpathogene Nematoden - Es wird ein moglicher Mechanismus zur Unterdruckung des pflanzenparasitaren Nematoden Meloidogyne incognita durch insektenpathogene Nematoden beschrieben. Durch Hitze abgetotete insektenpathogene Nematoden Steinernema feltiae und S. riobrave underdruckten das Eindringen des Wurzelgallenalchens M. incognita in Tomatenwurzeln, lebende Nematoden hatten keine Wirkung. Infektionsjuvenile von M. incognita wurden von allen Behandlungen mit insektenpathogenen Nematoden abgestossen, die auch die symbiontischen Bakterien einschlossen. Sie wurden durch die Kadaver von Galleria mellonella abgestossen, die mit S. carpocapsae, S. feltiae und S. riobrave infiziert waren sowie durch zellfreie Kultursubstrate der symbiontischen Bakterien Xenorhabdus nematophilus, X. bovienii und Xenorhabdus sp. "R" aus den drei genannten Nematodenarten. Zellfreie Kultursubstrate von allen drei Xenorhabdus spp. waren giftig fur die Infektionsjuvenilen von M. incognita und verursachten in einer Konzentration von 15% Abtotungsraten von 98-100%. Zellfreie Kultursubstrate von Xenorhabdus sp. "R" vermiderten ausserdem das Schlupfen von M. incognita-Eiern. In einem Gewachshausversuch unterdruckten formulierte zellfreie Bakterienfiltrate vorubergehend das Eindringen von M. incognita in Tomatenwurzeln. Die Kurzzeitwirkungen von zellfreien Bakterien filtraten, namentlich Giftigkeit und Abstossung, waren nahezu ganz bedingt durch Ammoniak. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen das Vorhandensein von allelopathischen Wechselwirkungen zwischen pflanzenparasitaren Nematoden, insektenpathogenen Nematoden und deren symbiontischen Bakterien. Die wahrscheinliche Rolle von Allelopathie bei der Unterdruckung pflanzenparasitarer Nematoden durch eine Massenanwendung insektenpathogener Nematoden wird diskutiert.


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